If It Were
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: (Re-uploaded version since the first one wasn't working) Stoick wasn't hit by Toothless' plasma blast...but neither was Hiccup. So who was?


**This is a really sad story that I wrote WAAAAAAAAY back in July, when I first saw HTTYD2. It was something I wrote, forgot about, and then remembered I had it. So, here you go. Sorry about the angsty feels and stuff. :( **

Toothless had never threatened Hiccup with a plasma blast before.

He recounted all previous trainings with him; when he had first taught him the hand signal for "Plasma Blast", that time when they were fighting the Red Death, Hiccup's voice ringing in his ears as he screamed, "NOW!" for him to fire.

He would joke with Hiccup sometimes; hang him over the side of a cliff, and then rear back and lick him half to death while he laid helpless in his grip, trying to fight back every wave of dragon saliva, failing each time even worse than the last.

But this? This time, he wasn't fooling around.

"Toothless, come on, bud!" shouted Hiccup, holding his hands out in front of him. "You wouldn't hurt me! Stop! Snap out of it!"

The snarling Night Fury didn't stop. It was under the control of the Alpha. He wasn't the Toothless Hiccup learned to know and care about. No, this was a pawn used by the Alpha to kill him.

_To kill him... _

"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted as he backed against a large wall of ice. "Stop! Buddy, stop! Snap out of it! Fight it! TOOTHLESS!"

Toothless acted as if he had never heard a word the dragon rider was screaming at him. Screaming. Hiccup was _screaming _at the dragon to cut it out. Somewhere inside Toothless, there was this voice wondering, _What am I doing? This isn't right...something about this isn't right. I shouldn't be doing this_, yet there was nothing the dragon could do to stop himself. The Alpha was stronger than he.

Astrid watched all of this from the distance. She watched as Toothless backed Hiccup up against the wall, and then gathered flammable gas into his throat, ready to ignite it.

"HICCUP!" Astrid shouted. She looked to the side; Stoick and Valka were both running towards him, but they would never make it in time. Astrid was the only one who was close enough to make it. To _save him_.

_To save him... _

So, she started running.

"Hiccup!" she shouted.

Hiccup looked at her, and gasped. He knew what she was going to do.

"Astrid! NO!" he screamed, not that she would listen. He was her best friend. And if she could die in his place, knowing he was alright, well...maybe that would just be okay. Maybe she would be okay dying to save him. He meant that much to her, even if it meant she would never see him again after the events of that day.

She ran straight for him, and then slammed into the dragon rider, just as Toothless ignited the gas, firing plasma straight at the two.

The other vikings stopped in their tracks as the sound of cracking, splintering ice met their ears. A split second later, the smoke cleared, revealing Hiccup, and...

_Astrid_.

Hiccup gasped, on his hands and knees, trying to get the oxygen back in his lungs. What just happened? It didn't take him too long to find out.

There she was, lying still as death, face down on the ground.

"No...no," said Hiccup, shaking his head and stumbling backwards before catching himself and racing forward. "ASTRID!" he shouted. He jumped to his feet and raced over to the fallen girl. Collapsing to his knees beside her, he grabbed her shoulder and turned her over roughly. She was completely limp, her head lolling on the cold ground.

It cut a knife straight through Hiccup's heart.

"Astrid," Hiccup was aware of his voice growing rougher as tears threatened to push past his lashes, although knew there was no containing them once they started. "Astrid...come on, Astrid! Don't do this!"

Stoick and Valka watched the scene, having finally caught up. They couldn't say anything. What was there to say? What could they say? What _should _they say?

"ASTRID STOP!" Hiccup screamed at her. There was no response from the fallen dragon rider. "STOP IT! PLEASE!"

He knew she was gone. She was _gone_. The Fearless Astrid Hofferson was gone. Forever. _Forever_.

"Please..." Hiccup begged. "Don't be...deaaahh." He couldn't even say it. Tears streamed down his face, and he couldn't stop them, even if he tried to.

He ignored his mother and father sitting on either side of them. He ignored Valka's hand on his shoulder. At that moment, none of it mattered to him anymore.

Toothless shook his head, finally breaking himself out of the Alpha's control. He looked around, and smelled smoke. _Smoke_. From a plasma blast. Wait...a plasma blast? It wasn't just _"a" _plasma blast, no, it was _"his" _plasma blast. He had fired a plasma blast.

Toothless looked over, seeing Hiccup bent over Astrid's lifeless body, sobbing, although it was clear he was trying to keep himself composed for the sake of those around him. Toothless slowly approached, keeping his head down, sniffing the air.

It smelled weird. Almost like..._death_. Had someone been killed? What was happening? What _had_ happened? What was wrong? Why was Hiccup..._crying? _

Toothless had only seen him cry once or twice in the past, and each time, it had been from something extreme. If he was crying now, the air smelled like death, and Toothless could smell the remains of a...no, _his _plasma blast, then it must have been something awful.

Astrid.

It was Astrid. Astrid Hofferson. Fearless, brave, Astrid Hofferson, lying dead in front of Hiccup. Toothless suddenly felt the extent of the situation.

Had he killed her?

Toothless moved forward and slid his muzzle under Astrid's limp hand. Instantly, he felt two other hands shove him backwards.

"Stop!" shouted..._Hiccup? _"Get away!" Toothless looked back at his rider, wondering what had happened. "Get out of here, scat!" said Hiccup. Toothless, full of guilt, finally realizing what he had done, turned and bolted, running.

"It's not his fault," said Valka gently. Hiccup collapsed to the ground again, not knowing what else to do. "You know that," said Valka.

Of course Hiccup knew that; but it didn't change what had happened. Never again would he see Astrid's smile; the way her eyes sparkled while fighting Outcasts, training dragons, competing in Thawfest, or any other contest for that matter. Never again would he hear her opinion on his crazy ideas. Never again would he attempt another race; ride another dragon; teach another class at the Academy with her again.

She was gone.

Astrid Hofferson was gone.


End file.
